Bolton, Ruth N. (1998), “A Dynamic Model
of the Duration of the Customer’s Relationship with a Continuous
Service Provider: The Role of Satisfaction.”
Marketing Science,
17 (1), 45-65.[In
Summer 2005, the Editor reported that this article has largest
number of total cites of all articles published in Marketing
Science in the last ten years, 1995-2005).]

This week has focused on theory-based
models of customer behavior (repeat purchase, usage, share)
with respect to services.Select a customer behavior with respect to services
(i.e., a focal dependent variable) that has not been studied
extensively(e.g., information sharing with employees or
other service providers, recommendations, co-productionparticipation in extended hedonic services). How
would you develop a theory-based model?What are some useful explanatory theoretical
constructs?What
are the challenges of developing and testing your model
empirically?

Service quality is the most widely
studied construct in the services literature. (Marketers
have typically studied perceptions of service quality
whereas operations researchers have studied objective
measures of service quality.)Are there still fertile areas for exploration?If so, what are they? Describe your ideas for how you
would extend the services quality literature (e.g., by
linking service quality to other important constructs).

There is a vast stream of literature
that is often ignored by services researchers, consisting of
articles that focus on a single industry (e.g.,
transportation, telecommunications), or articles based in
other disciplines. How would you employ a multi-disciplinary
approach to studying a services industry (e.g., information
services, medical services)?Why does this industry interest you? What constructs
would you study? What theories could you draw upon to
generate new intellectual insights regarding this industry
and/or its participants (customers, firms, employees, or
other stakeholders)?

Reminder: You must meet with
me before Friday January 29 to discuss your Two-Page Memo and
turn it in by Monday February 1, 9am